January
20, 1974 was a Monday. It was the first day of the second semester of
the ’73-74 school year. It was also my first day ever at Franklin
schools.
I was a quiet and shy eighth grader, with braces on my teeth. Up until that day I lived, breathed and dreamed of playing varsity for the Springboro Panthers.
I
stood in front of my locker that very first day, thinking to myself
everything was so, so different. I said, “This has to be the worst day
of my life.”
...
FEBRUARY 13, 2015 WAS a Friday, Senior Night for the 2014-15 Franklin High School basketball team. A standing-room-only crowd had arrived by 4:30 that afternoon, three hours before tip-off. TV news crews were on hand, and excitement was high to watch one of the best, most exciting teams in school history.
I looked around that night and saw teachers who spent their entire adults lives investing in the students here. Great
people. They plant seeds. They gave many of us a strong foundation to
go on to colleges and professions, that spreads not only across this
country, but the world.
I remembered my great teachers at Franklin -- Mrs. Hensley, Miss Wentzel, Mrs. Retherford, Mrs. Whitt, Mrs. Pinney, Mr. Hoover, Mr. Swiger, Mr. Rose. “A teacher affects eternity; she can never tell where her influence stops.”
I
saw the look that night on the face of Brian Bales, Franklin'w coach. On the one hand, he was
sad that this would be the last time he would watch these guys play in
their home gym, but on the other hand he was so proud to have been their
coach.
Good coaches push, and motivate. They want you to go to the next level within yourself, and make you all you can be.
There is a connection there that never goes away. I thought about all the good coaches I had here -- Dave Creech (along with Marv Sands) – basketball program; Ken Hochman / Ron Pierce – football program; John Retherford -- golf; Doug Long (along with Sam Franks) -- baseball. I never played on a losing team. And I never lost to Springboro.
One time under Coach Creech he put me in and in what seemed like no time at all, I got four fouls.
Now,
that’s pretty sloppy, and even I knew that, and I apologized after the
game. But Coach Creech taught me a lesson about mistakes that night.
“Jeff, don’t apologize when you have four fouls. You apologize when you
have no fouls. Because if you don’t foul, you’re not playing aggressive
defense.”
I
remember during our senior year we lost both games of a doubleheader.
To top it off, that was also a day I left my windbreaker jacket.and
Coach found it, meaning I was required to run 10 laps around the
baseball field.
Coach Long decided we needed a little prayer meeting. I think he prayed for personal serenity in order to keep from killing us.
But
in between all of that, he offered us this life lesson. “Focus on doing
the best you can do. Keep it simple. And when you do that, it doesn’t
matter what you’ve done or how far behind you are, things can get
better. When you focus on fundamentals, results take care of themselves.
And don’t you know we won 10 of our last 11 games to finish with, at the time, a school record for most wins in the season.
By
the way, I never did run those ten laps, and I reminded Coach Long of
that several years ago. I handled a small legal thing for him and he
wanted to pay me.
I said “No, I just want you to forgive the ten laps.”
He said, “Do you know what the interest on ten laps is over the course of 38 years? Start running.”
Do
you remember that scene in Forrest Gump where he runs from once side of
the country to the next, and along the way grows a full beard and has
hair down over his shoulders? That will be someday.
...
ON
February 20, 2015, I WAS impressed by how much enthusiasm the student sectio had for their
classmates. They rallied around one simple word, and it was written across the front of every shirt: “Franklin.”
I graduated in 1978, and we were a really good class – with a lot of smart people. I never saw cocaine
We had fun, but we didn’t drink. I never saw marijuana. We lived in Harpland -- near my good friends Danny Griffith, Steve Dalton, Jerry Collins. But there were others -- Bake, Rick Chamberlain, Kenny Haney, Silk, Joe Byrne, Jamie Wines. We
played ball together during the day, then play cards or pick-up
basketball at night. The image I have is of all of us driving around
town in Steve Dalton’s Camaro listening to the Eagles sing, “Life In The
Fast Lane. I’ll remember those moments forever.
...
I ALSO SAW PLAYERS WALK across the court with their families. There are so many great families in this town, included. My dad graduated from Franklin and was a lawyer in town and in the area. My mom worked in the City Building for the Warren County Title Office. My brother John was a class clown. My
sister Julie was a very caring but very principled, who worked with
American Airlines and was a very involved aunt to her nieces and
nephews. My
sister Jenny became a teacher in Franklin schools for 30 years – Mrs.
Stewart. She knows everybody. I introduce myself as “Mrs. Stewart’s
brother.” And I hear, “Oh, I know her. She was one of my favorite
teachers.” She has three great kids who all graduated from Franklin -- Sara, class of 2008;Alison 2010; and Kevin 2012. My brother Joe played the lead in every class play and is now the Judge of the Warren County Juvenile Court.
Between
1975 and 1982, I think every kid in Franklin either spent the night or
ate dinner at our house. It was Grand Central Station.
I’d
go to church and hear of the time Jesus fed 5,000 people with one loaf
of bread and two fishes. They called it a miracle, but I didn’t think
so. I saw my mom do that three times a week for five years.
This award I accept tonight really is a recognition of my family.
But I’ll keep it in my name. The plaque will go in my office. But, really, it’s for all of us.
Kim, Chloe...
...
MOST OF ALL, IS AW many great people who have devoted their whole lives to Franklin, making me think of Chuck & Liz Wolfinbarger, Jack Tracy, All of the Rupperts, Big James and Larry Dalton, Liz Buchanan/Kyle Cook/Billy Estes/Cicero & JoAnn Feltner, Chas Maloney
So many more…
Special comment about Jim Mears…
Here, there is such a heritage and a tradition. Over the years, I do my thing, but I’ve also become a fan/observer/storyteller.
Star Free Press
“Once A Wildcat, Always A Wildcat”
Facebook…more feedback and attention that all of the above.
1) You’ll be better and stronger because of your struggles
2) Even if it’s not a big game, you create moments you will never forget
3) Thank a former Wildcat; they paved the way for you
3) You’ll want to one day do it all over again
I
know I don’t stand before you tonight because of what I accomplished in
my three years in high school. This is an accumulation of a lifetime of
service. If I had been the start athlete I always dreamed of being, I’d have a really good story to tell. But
God had other plans for me. Instead, I wasn’t all that good, but I kept
a childhood fascination with all things glamorous, and now I have a
million stories to tell.
And they keep coming.
...
I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER the night of February 13, 2015, in the gymnasium right down here.
I was right down front, in the middle of all of it.
I remembered January 20, 1974, and the time I sat in front of my locker before classes began.
That was the day I became a Wildcat.
So that was not the worst day of my life.
It was the best.